Cape Town – South Africa is set to host an Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Organ Troika on Thursday, July 21, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) said on Monday evening.
The summit will be held in Pretoria.
South Africa is chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation (Organ Troika) for the August 2021 – August 2022. Other members are Botswana and Namibia.
The summit would be preceded meetings of senior officials on July 16 and 17 and the Ministerial Committee of the Organ on July 19, the department said.
The SADC region continues to be plagued by a slew of issues, among them the security crisis in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, which essentially is a growing insurgency; rising fuel and food prices; corruption and ageing leaders clinging to power.
On Monday, the SANDF confirmed the death of Staff Sergeant Johan Andries van Rooyen, 51, at Level 2 Hospital in Pemba, Mozambique.
The solider was part of operation Vikela, the South African military operation based in Mozambique to assist the SADC Mission in Mozambique (Samim).
The mission has begun implementing peace-building support initiatives in Cabo Delgado province in the north of the country.
The SADC Peace Building Support Programme is aimed at enhancing social protection mechanisms, law and order, humanitarian assistance and capacity-building initiatives in the province, which has been under attack from terrorists and violent extremists.
The programme is funded by the EU under the early response mechanism of the AU Commission.
IOL